Review: No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam

No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating and relatively accessible intro for anyone unfamiliar with the history of Islam, although given my lack of familiarity with the subject, I'd be interested in hearing what other contemporary Muslims think, since I sometimes got the impression that Aslan's underlying opinions weren't the norm. The bias here can be a little noticeable at times, but for a reader new to the subject, it's still worthwhile.

The book covers the historical context in which Muhammad grew up, a general overview of his life, and the events following his death that led to the formation of the major branches of Islam. It also occasionally jumps around to how the history is linked to topics more relevant to the present day, including: leading female thinkers, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a full chapter on Sufism (that to be honest didn't quite feel like it fit in with the rest of the book), the rise of the Wahhabi movement (read: important for understanding Saudi Arabia and associated terrorist orgs like Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and most recently ISIS/IS) and the effects of European colonialism on the Middle East, among others, before finally commenting on Islam's potential future and why attempts at democracy in its native countries have failed in the past. That argument is a cautiously optimistic one, but as he points out, the war to decide Islam's future is currently being fought today in the Middle East and beyond.

Aslan's approach to the historical side of things reads almost like a novel in itself- in fact I kept wondering about his sources until reaching the notes in the back- and he makes a good point about emphasizing the difference between genuine, or objective history vs. sacred history, or the actual stories that the religion is concerned with, as it is the meanings taken from these stories and how they have affected future generations that matter more for our understanding in the present-day rather than whether or not they actually happened.

His explanation of the difficulties that the early Muslim community or Ummah faced in the immediate aftermath of Muhammad's death is especially enlightening and helpful for understanding why the various sects, Sunni, Shia, etc. turned out the way they did, and the author is apt to point out that many of the practices and rituals that the varying sects of Islam have today were not formalized until this decisive period. Aslan also isn't afraid to provide criticism on the potential flaws and weaknesses in each of the topics he addresses either, such as how the creation of hadiths about the Prophet's life were often misused to support a later contemporary belief centuries later, or how a rigid traditionalist interpretation of the Qur'an being uncreated (which among other things considers it pointless to study its historical context) contributed to the stagnation of independent Islamic thought up to the present day.

Coming from a Christian background, the course of reading this book made me realize that no matter what you believe, the birth and evolution of a religion is often a harrowing ordeal, especially for its leaders. For Muhammad and all of his successors, the early Caliphs and especially the family of the Prophet, I couldn't help but sympathize with their plights as I read about the issues that they struggled with, all of the internal politics that erupted and the betrayals and the violence that came about while they still strived to recreate the ideal community they had at Medina, each in their own vision. I don't know if the Prophet himself could have imagined what his Ummah would turn into, centuries later, although of course some would insist otherwise. But considering what the Sunni-Shia relationship has turned into today, it feels all the more tragic... though at the same time, there is much to admire from the efforts of those who've still persevered for a better future.

It's a lot to digest in only ~300 pages for a topic that could easily have spanned an entire textbook and then some, but at least for now, I feel like I have enough passing familiarity with the names and terminology so that the Wikipedia article series on Islam doesn't look so daunting anymore, haha. (But to be more serious, it does help with novels that reference the history of Islam, like Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which I had a lot of trouble understanding before.)